Verbatim theatre may have its limitations, but as a way of meshing together oral histories and competing testimonies it has an effectiveness that ‘conventional’ theatre and performance can be more leaden in conveying.

This is, as the title lays bare, a show about sex. More particularly, it a show about sexual experimentation and desire in all of its multiplicity and infinite variety. The old cliche tells us that sex is the most natural thing in the world. So why is it so often one of the most impossible things to articulate clearly or honestly, free of embarrassment and fear?

Certainly, it’s got more to it than just inarticulacy of language or gesture. It’s because, at root, so much of sexual desire is full of incredibly potent violence, much of it cemented through so many societal norms. But when do we feel at our freest to either remember or unburden our experiences or wants? What about, for instance, at a party? When do the rigid performative norms we adhere to start to slacken? Why at a party?

That’s the frame for Spill, where we as audience act as form of sympathetic ear, hearing these difficult, often deeply personal revelations as coopted confidants. We hear frankly related stories about an uncomprehending psychiatrist, a forcefully taken virginity, an internal crises of gender. We hear, as we often don’t, about sex in all of its surreal manifestations. (FG)